George Edmund Badger

George Edmund Badger (17 April 1795-11 May 1866) was US Secretary of the Navy from 6 March to 11 September 1841 (succeeding James Kirke Paulding and preceding Abel P. Upshur) and a US Senator from North Carolina (W) from 25 November 1846 to 3 March 1855 (succeeding William Henry Haywood Jr. and preceding Asa Biggs).

Biography
George Edmund Badger was born in New Bern, North Carolina in 1795, and he was admitted to the bar in 1814. He served as a state superior court judge and in other state offices, and he initially supported Andrew Jackson, although he later became a Whig and helped carry them to victory in 1840. He served as Secretary of the Navy under William Henry Harrison, establishing the Home Squadron, preparing the US Navy for war with Britain, and increasing interest in steam ships. He resigned in 1841 during a cabinet shakeup, and he went on to serve in the US Senate from 1846 to 1855. Badger was a unionist during the secession crisis, but he supported the Confederacy during the American Civil War. He died in Raleigh in 1866.